Chapter 111: The Frenzied Slaughter of the Five Ghosts

[Eight Extremes: Overlord Breaks the Reins]

He pulled his knees up to brace against Qu Zhang’s lumbar spine, hooked his left arm around the man’s arms, and scooped up his legs with his right. Balancing on one leg, his lithe and muscular frame looked like a longbow pulled to its limit.

"Hah... ah..."
"Break for me!"

Ling Chi let out a roar. Veins bulged on his forehead as his arms erupted with overwhelming force, his body—tempered countless times by lightning—unleashing its full potential.

Qu Zhang’s entire skeletal structure groaned and cracked. He struggled desperately, never having imagined in his wildest dreams that he would one day be tortured by a man in such a position. The bloody, malevolent aura that permeated his body had nowhere to go, and the relentless intrusion of lightning left him increasingly paralyzed.

"Snap!"

Following the first crisp sound of bone fracturing, a continuous string of pops and cracks echoed. The pitiful centenarian was nearly folded in half in reverse by Ling Chi.

"Bang!"
"This punch is for my Second Senior Sister. That was for making them bleed."
"Bang!"
"This punch is for my Fourth Senior Brother."
"Bang!"
"This punch is for the innocent children of Willow Town."
"Bang!"
"This punch is for the wicked in that town. I should have let you kill them all before I got there."

Ling Chi threw him to the ground and hammered his forehead with violent, repeated punches. With every impact, the earth shook, carving a deep crater into the ground until the bloody, malevolent aura grew thin and finally vanished into the void.

"General Wang... will kill... you. You..."

A thousand strands of thunderous spiritual energy flowed back into him, bringing him closer to the seventh level of the Qi Sea Realm.

Before Qu Zhang could finish his final words, he breathed his last. It was a pity he hadn't asked who this "General Wang" was, but it didn't matter; if any general surnamed Wang crossed him in the future, he would simply strike first and kill them.

He searched the few corpses, finding nothing but gold and silver; there were no letters or treasures to be found. He presumed that since Qu Zhang had been living in hiding, any rare heavenly materials he possessed must have been consumed immediately to convert into combat power as a means of self-preservation.

The caves above were stocked with grain and useless medicinal herbs. Ling Chi collected them all into his Cosmos Bag; although he didn't care for them, he could sell them to the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce later.

In the cave where Qu Zhang lived, he unearthed a manual on corpse refining, which required cultivating blood-evil energy. Ling Chi flipped through it, found it uninteresting, and tossed it into his Cosmos Bag.

He set fire to Lin Xiao and the evil corpse, ensuring they would not reanimate and plague the world.

***

He placed Qu Zhang and the mangled remains of Wei Ming into his Cosmos Bag, keeping them as proof to fulfill his contract.

He paid no mind to the unconscious young Taoist and the surviving martial artists; whether they lived or died was up to their own fate. Ling Chi turned his head, glanced at the collapsed cave, and strode away. He was not in a hurry to return to the Wei family to report his success.

After leaving Great River Village, he found a secluded spot to sit and meditate. He plucked a ginseng whisker, tossed it into his mouth, and allowed the medicinal power, aided by tiny flickers of lightning, to slowly heal his wounds.

He caught a wild deer in the forest, skinned and butchered it, and roasted it carefully, using the seasonings he had scavenged from the Wei estate to cook the venison to perfection.

Roasting meat in his leisure and slaughtering in his busy moments—this was the life he desired.

The charcoal fire roasted the deer meat, and drops of fat hissed as they hit the embers, sending up wisps of blue smoke. The firelight played across Ling Chi’s cold, distant face, creating a scene that seemed both eerie and peaceful in the dim forest.

Ling Chi chewed the fragrant venison heartily, pondering his next plan. His trip to Sheng Province had been immensely rewarding; the Cosmos Bag and the Five Ghosts Transportation Talismans were the most satisfying gains.

After finishing the venison in a few bites, he pulled out the thick stack of transportation talismans, his eyes gleaming. Whether to "eat" these thirty-six "buffet tickets" all at once or in two sittings gave him a sense of blissful indecision.

These talismans had to be used quickly. The five ghosts he had killed in the cave earlier had not yet returned to the Ghost Tribe; he feared it might alert them.

As he pondered, he ate even faster. He had to hurry and digest these Five Ghosts; no matter how useful a tool was, it had to be put to work.

Last time, a single ghost at the third or fourth level of the Fierce Ghost Realm provided two hundred strands of thunderous spiritual energy; one talisman was worth exactly one thousand.

Ling Chi looked at the thirty-six talismans in his hand and swallowed hard: thirty-six thousand strands of thunderous spiritual energy. His heart thumped wildly—this was equivalent to thirty-six old scoundrels like Qu Zhang. He was truly rich now; the Ghost Cult was a benefactor on his path of cultivation.

*Slap.*

Ling Chi tapped his forehead. How could he call them the Ghost Cult? He should call them the Holy Cult—they were all such good people.

The sooner the better. He finished the deer leg in a few bites and transformed into a bolt of lightning, vanishing into the forest. The cavern where Wei Ming had practiced corpse refining was ideal for summoning multiple Five Ghosts.

Ling Chi moved with the speed of a thunderbolt, so fast that ordinary martial artists couldn't even see his afterimage, heading straight for the cave.

The underground cavern remained a ruin of the previous battle, with its blood pool shattered and stalactites collapsed. He blocked the entrance, sat down, and regulated his breath, determined not to capsize in the gutter over these Five Ghosts.

***

An hour later, Ling Chi was fully prepared.

He took out five transportation talismans, lit them, and waited for the "buffet" to arrive. He stripped off his brocade robe, baring his upper body, and hoisted his blade, "Evil-Slayer," onto his shoulder.

With every breath, thunder stirred. Arcs of electricity wandered through the cavern, ready to merge into a single force at any moment.

The talismans burned to ashes in the blink of an eye. Black, gloomy energy gradually permeated the air, merging into a massive, swirling cloud of black mist. The mist expanded and roared, as if brewing some terrifying monster, until it occupied half the cavern space before finally settling.

Ghostly shadows emerged from the mist, each at least at the fourth level of the Fierce Ghost Realm. Gathered together, they formed a domain of ghosts, their gloom obscuring half the cave.

The moment was right. Ling Chi’s eyes focused, condensing Extreme Yang and lightning simultaneously. His left eye shone with a brilliant crimson, while his right eye surged with liquid lightning.

The crimson Extreme Yang energy wrapped around the black mist like smoke, while dozens of purple-gold lightning bolts—each as thick as a barrel—roared as they wove through the darkness.

"Hahaha, you evil spirits! I need you to aid my cultivation!"

Without waiting for these ghosts—who liked to pretend they were cultured—to speak, Ling Chi roared and charged into the ghost horde with his blade.

[Extreme Yang Lightning Indestructible Body]

The ghosts had no idea what was happening and were caught off guard by the ambush Ling Chi had been planning. Surrounded by brilliant purple-gold light, Ling Chi moved without restraint, his blade swinging in wide, powerful arcs that shattered the clumps of gloomy energy.

[Heng] [Ha]

Tiny lightning-mist dragons shot out, erupting into two arc-shaped shockwaves, simultaneously destroying souls and spirits.

The ghosts felt a blur before their eyes, and while they were still stunned, a hundred lightning-infused blade strikes descended upon them. The blade light became a meat grinder, carving through the ghost horde seven times, leaving behind only dismembered limbs and massive heads flying into the air.

The Extreme Yang energy continued to enclose them, and lightning pythons hunted down the remaining small ghosts.

More than two thousand strands of thunderous spiritual energy flooded back into him. He immediately ignited ten more "tickets," determined to profit heavily before the Ghost Tribe could react.

The lingering gloomy energy quickly condensed once more. The newly arrived Five Ghosts stared blankly at the sea of severed limbs on the ground. One ghostly creature picked up a severed hand, recognizing through its arm-ring that it belonged to its own kin.

"It's an ambu—"